In simple and plain English, veterans are those who signed up to kill people outside the US for money.

Sorry, I know that this sounds offensive to many, but this is a fact. The fact that this decision (to join an organization whose primary purpose is to murder people in their own countries, hundreds and thousands of miles away from the US) could ALSO have been taken for “patriotic” reasons (i.e. by those who believed in what is most likely the most lying propaganda machine in history) or to “see the world” and “become a real man” does not change the fact that if the US military offered NO pay or benefits, NO scholarships, NO healthcare, etc. then the vast majority of those who claim that they joined to “serve” would never have joined in the first place. We all know that, let’s not pretend otherwise! Just look at the arguments recruiters use to convince people to join: they are all about money and benefits! Need more proof? Just look at the kind of social groups who compose the bulk of the US military: uneducated, poor, with minimal career prospects. The simple truth is that financially successful folks very rarely join the military and, when they do, they usually make a career out of it.

As somebody who has lived in the US for a total of 21 years now, I can attest that folks join the military precisely for the same reasons they enter the police force or become correctional officers: because in all those endeavors there is money to be made and benefits to enjoy. Okay, there must be, by definition, the 1% or less who joined these (all violent) careers for purely lofty and noble ideals. But these would be a small, tiny, minority. The overwhelming majority of cops, correctional officers and soldiers joined primarily for material and/or financial reasons.

By the way, since that is the case, is it not also true that the soldier (just like the cop or the correctional officers) has ALREADY received his/her “gratitude” from the society for their “service” in the form of a check? Why do folks then still feel the need to “thank them for their service”? We don’t thank air traffic controllers or logging workers (also very tough careers) for their service, do we? And that is in spite of the fact that air traffic controllers and logging workers did not choose to join an organization whose primary goal is to kill people in their own homes (whether private homes or national ones) which is what soldiers get paid for.

The US has announced its withdrawal from the historic nuclear arms treaty with Russia. How serious of a setback is this for the two countries’ relations – and global security? We talked to Stephen Cohen, contributing editor of The Nation magazine, professor emeritus at Princeton University, and author of the book ‘War with Russia?’

Speaking to students at the University of Belgrade as part of his three-day tour of Serbia, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg explained that the bombing of Yugoslavia was not aimed against ordinary Serbs, but against President Slobodan Milosevic.

NATO carried out a 78-day campaign of airstrikes against Yugoslavia in 1999 after accusing Belgrade of committing war crimes in Kosovo. The strikes left as many as 5,700 civilians dead, and contaminated part of the region with depleted uranium, leading to a spike in juvenile cancer rates.

Water shortages, movement restrictions, and the constant presence of the Israeli military – this is what life looks like for millions of Palestinians living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. With no end in sight to the decades-long conflict, protests and clashes continue. RTD travels to the occupied territories to meet people of the Palestinian resistance, from members of the Tamimi family to activists expressing their anger and pain through art.

Mosul – Iraq’s second-largest city and the former Islamic State capital – is still reeling a year after the terrorists were driven out. Bad blood and a thirst for revenge still divide people there.

Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) captured Mosul in June 2014 in mere days, sending soldiers and security troops on the run. Many local residents welcomed the jihadists, who promised protection from corruption, plus jobs and security. Later, the promises of prosperity proved false, with rigid rules, intimidation, rape, and public executions a daily routine.

But thousands of people in Mosul still pledged allegiance to IS – some driven by their propaganda, others by hunger or simply fear.

Some of those who worked as IS enforcers or officials survived the siege last year and are still living in the city. The local SWAT police hunt for them every night, raiding houses and questioning family members and neighbors of suspected IS members.

Some in the police don’t hide their hatred for anyone associated with the terrorist group. They have their reasons – IS killed their relatives or friends, and this calls for revenge, they told RT’s documentary crew.

There are similar moods among the Mosul civil defense, whose grim task is to search the ruins left after the siege for bodies. They collect the bodies of IS fighters, which are by now often reduced to mummified carcasses. Saying that this is done unceremoniously would be a great understatement. Some would kick a plastic bag full of remains to express disdain.

And there are many people living in Mosul who face suspicion and outright abuse due to guilt by association. Widows of IS members. Men whose brothers or uncles joined the jihadists. Children of those men. Some 80 percent of families in Mosul had this or that member join the terrorists. And being treated as second-rate people now hardly helps them turn the page on that chapter of their lives.

Some 40 years on, the groundbreaking music of Pink Floyd sounds fresh and deep, and the lyrics of Roger Waters are as relevant as ever. How hard is the balancing act between music and politics? We talked to the legend himself – Roger Waters, musician, activist, and co-founder of Pink Floyd.

From Syria to the European Union, from Iran to Turkey and North Korea – what kind of world order is the Trump administration striving to create? Is there a method to all of this ‘madness’? Clearly the old world order is under threat and it is intensifying. What will replace it?

Can Monsanto chemicals permanently alter your child’s genes? Low-income tobacco farmers face skyrocketing cancer rates with more devastating repercussions affecting their children: severe physical deformities and mental disabilities. Choosing between poverty or poison, Latin American growers have no choice but to use harmful chemicals such as glyphosate (in Monsanto’s Roundup) and Bayer’s Confidor, if they want to certify and sell their crops to Big Tobacco. As patent and regulatory laws continue to favor the profits of Monsanto and chemical companies, the tobacco makes its way into the hands and mouths of consumers worldwide in Philip Morris tobacco products, while the poisons used to harvest the crops contaminate the farmers’ blood and are modifying the human genome, creating genetically modified children.

Background image of John Bolton courtesy of CNN, modified by me. Click image to enlarge.

US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser warned Wednesday that the United States would respond “very strongly” if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad uses chemical weapons in an offensive to retake Idlib province:

“… if the Syrian regime uses chemical weapons we will respond very strongly and they really ought to think about this a long time.”

In this episode, RT’s Going Underground speaks to the boss of the White Helmets Raed Al Saleh about allegations of links to ISIS and Al Qaeda in a Going Underground Exclusive. Plus, Afshin Rattansi speaks to Vanessa Beeley, a journalist who has been on the ground in Syria during the war, about her accounts, which have differed widely from those of the White Helmets.

‘They don’t care about us’: Syrians on White Helmets’ true agenda

It seems that White Helmets organization is hailed as heroes in the West, and the latter one provides millions of dollars to so-called saviours. However, Aleppo residents claim that White Helmets care only about money and saving rebels, but not the civilians. In fact, they are not autonomous, and cannot make their own decisions – these are made by other powerful people.